


Of Safe Havens and Close-Calls

by Fiddlerinthewoods



Series: The Silver Eyed Assassin [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: A part of a series, Battle, Birds, Bullets, Epic battle, Eyes, Fighting, Guns, I can't write fight scenes, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Character Death, It's about to go down, Long time since last update, Merc almost gains feelings, Mercury's Robot Legs, Minor Character Death, Not Fluff, OSCAR IS NOT MENTIONED. HE IS THERE, One Shot, Qrow Branwen is Best Uncle, RIP Penny Polendina, RIP Pyrrha Nikos, Scythes, Silver Eyes, Silver-eyed warriors, Sorry about the Penny and Pyrrah jokes..., Sort Of, Swords, Took long to write, Tries to follow the plot, Wow, Yang's robot arm, You will never be forgotten, but are not, but fails, do people even read these tags?, ish, not angst, of one shots, should be tags, something in between?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 10:41:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16217357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiddlerinthewoods/pseuds/Fiddlerinthewoods
Summary: The fall of Haven is nearing.Mercury will have to keep his betrayal a secret.Will he be able to do that or will secrets be revealed?And what happens when an itching sensation starts behind his eyes...?





	Of Safe Havens and Close-Calls

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own RWBY!  
> Sorry for the long wait!  
> Cross posted on fanfiction.net

General Ironwood sat in his office. He was thinking over the conversation—argument—that he had with Jacques Schnee. Ironwood still knew that he was in the right. And nothing would change his opinion.

He would have kept mulling if the door didn’t open and one of his soldiers didn’t stand in the doorway.

“General Ironwood,” they started, saluting.

Ironwood looked up at them, “At ease.”

The soldier continued to speak, “Sir, we have important news regarding one Mercury Black.”

“Which is?”

“His tracking bracelet alerted us that he has removed it from his person.” They explained.

Ironwood stood up, “What. When did this happen?”

“Just now, sir.”

“And where was this?”

“On Patch, sir.”

“Patch?” Ironwood scratched at his chin, “I need my men looking for him. Send alerts to every police department in Vale. He helped in the fall of Beacon… alert the other headmasters as well—I don’t want risk of another attack. And I want him found and taken into custody. Alert me when he is.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You are dismissed.”

The soldier saluted before turning and leaving the office. They went to fulfil their orders.

_What was Mercury Black, of all people, doing on Patch…_

Ironwood sighed and pulled out his scroll. He dialed Qrow’s number.

* * *

“Whose scroll’s ringing?” Ruby wondered.

“Not mine!” Nora said from the couch.

“Mine is powered off.” Ren informed.

“Nope.” Jaune shook his head.

Team RNJR (Plus Qrow) were on an airship towards Mistrial. They had been treated for their wounds and were just waiting for the ship to land. Qrow had been checked by the doctors and was now resting from his poison wounds.

Ruby thought, “Hmm. It’s not mine either…”

“Maybe it’s Qrow’s?” Jaune suggested.

“Could be.” Ruby walked over to where Qrow’s belongings were placed. She rummaged through the pockets until she located the scroll. “Huh,” she said, looking at the caller ID. “It’s from a person named… Jimmy.”

“Well, answer it!” Nora chimed. “Let’s find out who this ‘Jimmy’ is!”

Ruby answered the call. “Hello?”

“Oh,” said the voice, “You’re not Qrow.”

“Who is this?” She wondered, the long-distance call distorted their voice slightly.

“General Ironwood of Atlas.” They informed. “Whom am I speaking to?”

Ruby covered the bottom part of the scroll, “It’s Ironwood!” she whispered loudly.

“What?” Jaune demanded.

“Put him on speaker!” Nora jumped up.

“What could he want with Qrow?” Ren wondered.

Ruby placed the call on speaker, “Uh, I’m Ruby Rose.”

“Nora Valkyrie!”

“Jaune Arc.”

“Lie Ren,”

“Hmm,” Ironwood thought, “Where is Qrow?”

“He’s resting,” Nora explained, “He got poisoned by this weird dude with a scorpion tail!”

“He’s fine!” Ruby interrupted quickly.

“…Scorpion tail…?”

“Yeah,” Ruby sadly agreed. “General Ironwood, why did you call Uncle Qrow?”

“I was hoping to talk to him about an arrangement we made,” Ironwood explained. “Is Mercury Black there by any chance?”

“What? No.” Ruby said, “Uncle Qrow dropped him off at my house—Uh! I just remembered he’s, uh, in the room with Uncle Qrow! He got injured as well! Heh… heh… Yeah, he’s here!”

“What?” Jaune blinked, “No he’s—mmph!”

Ruby reach over and covered his mouth.

“Miss. Rose,” Ironwood said, disappointed, “Mercury Black is a wanted fugitive as of today. If you are lying to me about his whereabouts, then you can get arrested for withholding information from the law.”

They went silent.

“Is Mercury Black with Qrow Branwen?” Ironwood repeated.

Ruby sighed, “…No… Uncle Qrow dropped him off at my house a long time ago. He should be with my father. Don’t get mad at Uncle Qrow! Mercury would have slowed him down from his work!”

“I’m not angry at Qrow,” Ironwood explained, “Disappointed, but not angry. I need to speak with him. Are you sure there is no way for me to speak with him?”

“Well…” Ren looked at where Qrow was, “He _could_ be awake.”

“I’ll check!” Nora said, “Come on, Ren!”

She pulled him to his feet and the two of them hurried off to where Qrow was resting. Everyone was silent for a moment. Jaune spoke up.

“So, uh, General Ironwood,” he started, “Why did you want to know if Mercury was here?”

_Right! Jaune doesn’t know what Mercury did!_

“Mercury Black has been given a few rules to follow in order to be on parole,” Ironwood explained, “He broke one of the rules, and I am calling Qrow—who is supposed to be watching him—to find out where he is so he can go back to prison.”

“Oh.”

Nora and Ren appeared back into the room, “Qrow’s out cold. He won’t be waking up soon.” Nora informed.

“Hmm. That’s too bad.” Ironwood sincerely said, “Can you tell him that I need to speak with him urgently when he wakes up?”

“Sure thing!” Ruby saluted.

_Why did I salute?_

“In that case, have a good day.”

“Bye!” Nora exclaimed.

Ironwood shut off the call.

The three turned to Ruby. “What just happened?” Jaune wondered. “Why is Mercury on parole?”

Ruby awkwardly scratched the back of her head, “Hah… I never told you, did I?”

“Told us what?” Nora asked.

“Mercury… assisted Cinder in her plans against Beacon.” She explained, “Yang’s arrest was part of the plan, he stopped me from saving Penny… And—”

“You’re telling me that he helped in Pyrrha’s death!” Jaune demanded.

“Not really! That was all Cinder! He filmed the battle… though…”

“He filmed while we were out defeating the Grimm!” Nora exclaimed. “How could he do that?”

“And he works with Tyrian, doesn’t he?” Ren mentioned, “Qrow and him both mentioned Mercury.”

“I don’t know about that part…” Ruby admitted. “But yeah… I don’t know how he could do this. I left before I could ask.”

“Let’s help Ironwood hunt him down!” Jaune turned to everyone, “People like that shouldn’t be free.”

Ruby stopped him, “I don’t know. Yang and dad were supposed to ‘help’ him, I guess. They were supposed to put him on the better path. I don’t know what happened—but something good probably didn’t. Dad was a Huntsman, I know he’s fine. But Mercury… something happened that made him break his rules. I want to find out what. And help him.”

“You want to _help_ him?” Jaune clarified.

She lowered her head, “I know it sounds childish and naïve. But I feel like he’s just misguided. We need to help him. He doesn’t see the light like we do.”

“Even the most tinted soul can be saved by the help of others.” Ren agreed.

“Are you serious?” Jaune demanded, “Nora, are you agreeing with this?”

Nora thought, “Ah… I mean, he didn’t do anything _that_ bad right? No one was harmed? Besides, maybe he just needs a little help!”

“I can’t believe this,” Jaune muttered. “Nothing _that_ bad? He helped in the fall of Beacon!”

“He’s just a… very lost soul?” Nora suggested.

“Come on, Jaune,” Ruby turned to him, “We can help him—but not without your help. What do you say? At least give him a try?”

Jaune looked at them all before sighing in defeat. “Okay. But the moment he does _anything_ evil, we’re alerting Ironwood. Okay?”

Ruby nodded, “Okay!”

_Oum, I hope this doesn’t backfire._

* * *

It took Mercury a couple days (almost a week or so) to get on the right path that Yang was going.

She had her motorcycle, Bumblebee, and he didn’t.

He also had to stowaway onto the ship that went to Anima. That was easy. He managed to sneak on and off without being detected. Once he got to Anima, he went to one of the dust shops and bought some extra dust. He had filled up while on Patch but wanted some extra rounds—just in case.

As he walked through the streets of a small waterside village, he whipped out the scroll he stole from Taiyang’s house. He opened it and located his tracker. It wasn’t hard. All he needed to do was get onto Qrow’s scroll and send himself a link to his tracker. That took only a minute or so.

Yang was headed towards the Mistrial area. So that is where Mercury was headed.

He accidentally bumped into someone passing by and mumbled a quick “sorry,” there was no need to be called out for being rude. He had his hood on, meaning someone shouldn’t be able to recognise him.

There was no doubt that Ironwood found out that he escaped. He figured that everyone in Sanus would be alerted to what he looks like, there was probably a bounty on his head. But here on Anima, there was a less chance of that happening. It was a good thing that the next attack was on Haven, maybe him being a fugitive may die down.

Unlikely, since he would be also at the fall of Haven.

Hmm. Maybe he could steal a motorcycle? Yang had Bumblebee, so it would make sense to have one as well. All he needed was to find one easy to steal.

Mercury walked around bars and pubs—where biker gangs or someone with a motorcycle might go. After his fifth bar, he managed to find a lone motorcycle. It was silver with black seats and gear. Perfect. Mercury walked over to the motorcycle and looked closely at it. He pretended to admire it.

His high jacking skills were a little rusty. But he should be able to start the motorcycle up easily. He sat on the seat and reached for the start button, it started smoothly.

_Huh. Must be one of those newer bikes._

_Also, the person who owns this is an idiot._

Mercury backed out of the stall, thankful that whoever owned this bike didn’t lock it. He headed down the road, towards where Yang was. He did hear yells of “Hey! That’s my bike!” behind him, but it soon was all lost to the sound of the motor.

It was a good thing his father taught him how to ride a motorcycle or this would have been disastrous.

_This is too easy._

_I don’t like it._

* * *

When Mercury arrived at where Yang was (a small gas station called ‘Just Rite’) she was outside talking to a guy. He was a bandit, no doubt, it was obvious from the way he talked and dressed. Marcus took Mercury on a few assassinations the Branwen tribe leader—Raven—hired him for. It was mostly just Huntsmen that worked for the Mistrial Council or Professor Lionheart of Haven Academy. So, Mercury has met a few bandits in his life.

He pulled up beside Bumblebee.

“Hey, blondie,” he greeted, “Long time no see?”

Yang turned to him, shock on her face. “Mercury Black,” she demanded, “I thought that you weren’t allowed to leave dad’s house? Or be alone? And where is your tracker?”

“All valid questions,” he raised his hands after shutting off the motorcycle. “I’ll answer them all in due time—”

“You’ll answer them now if you don’t want me to call Ironwood on you.” She crossed her arms. “What did you do?”

“I did nothing!” he lied, “Your father suggested that I go and find you so that I, I don’t know, help you with whatever you’re doing. It’s his fault. Not mine.”

“Would it hurt your feeling to say I don’t believe you.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Hold up,” Shay interrupted, “You’re Mercury Black?”

“What’s it to you?” Mercury snapped.

Shay raised his hands, “Nothing, just… Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

“You’re mistaking me for my father. Marcus Black. He’s dead.”

“Hmm.” Shay thought, “Well, you can come as well, I guess.”

“Sweet.” Mercury said, “I got my own bike.”

“Did you steal it?” Yang demanded.

“You don’t got any proof.” He shrugged.

Yang sighed. “Once we’re with Qrow, you better answer everything—truthfully.”

“Of course.”

_Nope._

“So, where are we going?” Mercury wondered.

“I’m looking for Raven Branwen,” she mentioned. “And he knows where she is.”

“Alright,” he fired up the motorcycle, “Let’s go.”

* * *

The three drove down an old dirt road for some time.  

Yang turned to Shay, “How much further, pal?”

“This should just about do it…” he explained.

The two drivers pulled over in a small clearing. Mercury shut off his motorcycle, Yang did the same.

Shay got off of Bumblebee, “You wait here… I’ll go up ahead and make sure the coast is clear.”

He turned and walked into the bushes. Yang took off her sunglasses and got off of Bumblebee. Mercury stayed on the motorcycle.

He sighed, “If we get into a fight, I’ll sit this one out.”

She turned to him, “Why? You chicken?”

“Nah, just not in the mood.”

_Plus I need to see what your robotic arm can do in a fight._

_This is valuable knowledge for when I have to fight you again._

She scoffed, “Sure.”

She took off her gloves and the extra tail from her jacket. She stretched, her robotic arm whirling. There was the sound of a gun clicking and Yang whirled around quickly. Her robotic arms deflected a gunshot that sparked with red.

“Ooh.” Mercury raised his eyebrows.

Yang turned around and saw Shay walk out of the bushes, followed by a bunch of bandits.

He spread his arms, Shay began to speak. Mercury leaned against the handlebars of his motorcycle, it didn’t concern him.

Yang retorted with some quick quip about the number of bandits against her.

Shay didn’t seem to know who he was up against.

 _I’d be careful with what you say, buddy, even Yang beat_ me.

_To be fair, I let her the first few times._

_But she’s still a strong huntress._

The two got into a small conversation. Shay obviously thought that he was going to take Yang’s bike, Yang wasn’t buying it. After Shay talked about repaying for his tooth, Mercury spoke up.

“Don’t bloody them up _too_ badly, blondie.” He smirked.

She turned and glanced at him. “Don’t count on it.”

Yang activated Ember Celica. That made the bandits uncomfortable. Then she activated her robotic arm, Mercury raised an eyebrow.

_Interesting…_

“Alright….” Shay said, he looked at the bandits, “Get her!”

The bandits approached Yang, and she sauntered over to them. Mercury smirked from his motorcycle as Yang started to defeat the bandits. He nodded his head at how she kicked them with perfect form.

_Stop complementing the enemy!!!_

At one point, she even used her arm to deflect bullets. Mercury had done the same thing many times with his own legs. He knows how beneficial it can be.

Yang managed to take down three bandits all at the same time. Shay shot Yang with his gun and she dodged. He then tried to shoot her again, but his gun jammed. She lunged at him and punched him in the face, he knocked out a bandit before falling to the ground.

She finished fighting the bandits and walked back over to Bumblebee.

As she walked over, Shay coughed. “Who… are you?”

Yang ignored him.

“It doesn’t even matter!” he slowly got up. “When Raven finds out what you did, you’re dead!”

Yang sighed. “Possibly… but I doubt it.” She turned to him, “I’m her daughter, after all.”

_What._

Yang got back on her motorcycle. She moved her sunglasses, gloves, and extra coat tail before sitting down.

Shay looked at the ground, petrified. “ _I’m_ dead…” He then fell to the ground, beat.

Yang turned to Mercury, “You coming or what?”

He blinked out of his surprise, “I’m coming.”

The two headed off towards the town.

_Yang’s Raven’s daughter?_

_Huh. Interesting._

_I wonder if I could use that against her…_

* * *

“He _what?”_

“That’s what General Ironwood told us.”

“This really isn’t surprising, he _is_ the late Marcus Black’s son.”

“Can you be quiet for a moment, Oz? I need to think.”

Qrow rubbed at his forehead in disbelief. He needed something to drink. He pulled out his flask only to find it empty. Disappointed, he placed it back into his pocket. Everyone was sitting in the living room of the apartment, each in a different spot. Oscar—or Ozpin, as he was currently the one who was in control—was sitting on the couch, Qrow was beside him.  

“Uncle Qrow?” Ruby asked, “You still haven’t called back the general yet.”

“I know,” Qrow admitted, “I’m stalling.”

“Oh.”

Qrow sighed, “Start from the beginning again?”

Nora jumped at the opportunity, “So! While we were on the ship, Ironwood called up and we were all like ‘whose scroll is that!’ we managed to find that it was your scroll and answered it—well, Ruby answered it! Then she spoke with Ironwood and we finally talked with him! Ironwood then told us the Mercury is a fugitive and you’re supposed to be his watcher or something like that—”

“I got it,” Qrow interrupted. “So this whole thing backfired. Just great. I really should have expected this…”

“Where is Mr. Black currently?” Ozpin asked.

“He’s supposed to be with Tai,” Qrow informed, “But I doubt that he is. And Tai isn’t picking up his scroll.”

“Maybe it ran out of battery?” Jaune suggested.

Ruby shook her head, “No. Dad always has it plugged in and charged.”

“Where would he be heading?” Ren asked.

“If the next attack is at Haven academy,” Ozpin started, “Then that might be where he is headed.”

“Nah,” Qrow shook his head, “The kid’s a professional. He’ll be laying low and meeting up with whoever is going to be at the attack.”

“That could serve as a problem,” Ozpin mentioned. “We need to locate Mr. Black before Salem or James make it to him first.”

“How are we going to do that?” Ruby asked. “It’s not like we have a lot at our disposal.”

Qrow sighed and pulled out his scroll, “I would suggest we find his tracker, but it would be broken by now.”

“Can you try anyway?” Ruby wondered.

Qrow opened his scroll and found the app. He then stared at the screen as a small red dot flickered near the forest of Anima. “Huh,” he mused, “Guess the kid didn’t destroy it after all.”

“Where is he?” Jaune asked.

“Oh no.” Qrow huffed, “I know where he is, and it’s not good.”

“Where—”

“He’s near Raven.”

Ozpin thought for a moment. “Why would he go to your sister?”

“Beats me,” Qrow shrugged, “Don’t know why _anyone_ would want to go to her. Though he might be trying to cash in his favour from her.”

“What favour?” Ruby asked.

“Marcus Black was an excellent assassin,” Qrow explained, “He would occasionally do the tribe favours, such as killing people bandits couldn’t. He didn’t get much pay for it, and so he would ask for favours instead. Up until his death, he has only ever used one favour. I don’t know what it was because I left before then.”

“So Mercury is going to use a favour with Raven for… what?” Jaune wondered.

“That we do not know, Mr. Arc.” Ozpin explained. “He could, possibly, have got in contact with Salem and is following her orders.”

“He wouldn’t have been able to do that unless he stole a scroll.” Qrow muttered.

“Is that _really_ out of his skill set?” Nora mentioned.

Qrow sighed, “No. It’s not.”

Ozpin thought for a moment. “Can I speak to Qrow, alone?”

Ruby blinked, “Sure.”

“No,” Jaune countered, “What you have to say to Qrow, you can say to us.”

“Jaune…” Ruby complained.

“No,” Ozpin interrupted, “Mr. Arc is correct. What I can say, I can say in front of you. But I would rather go over my idea with Qrow first.”

Nora grabbed Jaune’s arm, “We’ll leave!”

Jaune followed her as led him out. Ruby and Ren followed after. Only Qrow and Ozpin were left.

“What is it, Oz?” Qrow wondered. “Thinking Mercury’s after Spring?”

“Yes, actually.” Ozpin answered.

Qrow looked up at him, “Why would he go after Spring?”

“He works for Salem, yes?” Ozpin started, “Is it possible that he could use his favour in exchange for Spring?”

 Qrow shook his head. “Nah. Raven’s not the best with blood family, but she considers the tribe her family. She wouldn’t trade them just because of a favour from a dead assassin’s son. _Especially_ for someone as powerful as Spring.”

Ozpin thought for a moment, “I sure hope that you are correct.”

Qrow scoffed, “I am. Trust me. Raven would _never_ give up Spring.”

“You do realise that your sister being protective will not aid us in finding Spring?”

“Yeah,” Qrow sighed before taking a swing from his flask, “Yeah, I do.”

* * *

Mercury and Yang walked into Raven’s camp. The bandits led them to where the large hut was.

_There. That is where Raven is at._

Mercury smirked to himself at the thought.

_Let’s get this plan on the role. Shall I?_

Mercury watched as a tall raven-haired woman step out of the hut. She had a white and red mask on, and her weapon hung from her side. She took off her mask.

“Yang?” she asked.

“Mom.” Yang greeted.

_So, this is Raven._

_Hmm…_

Raven gestured to Mercury, “Who’s this?”

“He’s—”

Mercury cut Yang off, “Mercury Black.”

“Black.” Raven echoed. “Like—”

“Marcus Black?” he gritted out, placing on a fake smile. “The very same. He’s my father.”

Raven hummed. “I suppose he sent you to cash in his favour?”

“Don’t be silly,” Mercury shook his head, “He’s dead. And, if I remember your rules, that means that the favour is now _mine._ And I won’t cash it now unless I need too. _”_

Raven looked at Yang, “This is who you associate with?”

“Not really,” Yang admitted, “He’s a special case.”

“Thank you.” He tilted his head to her.

Yang ignored him.

Raven spoke up, “I suppose we have business to talk about…”

She and Yang spoke—argued—and Mercury looked around the camp. Almost all of the bandits were outside, watching them. He winked at a few of the female bandits, one swoon while one glared.

_I need to work on my charm then._

There was a large cage covered with a tarp. Mercury brushed it off. It didn’t matter what the bandits did. His only concern was himself. (Which branched out to Salem and Qrow.)

Mid-argument, the cage burst open. To be fair, Yang had noticed Weiss. Mercury wasn’t too pleased with the heiress being here. But hey, this is why his plans are always flexible.

Weiss broke out of her cage, a large soldier behind her. All of the bandits raised their weapons at the three of them.

Mercury blinked. That was unexpected.

The W of team RWBY ran over to Yang. They stood back-to-back, ready to fight. Mercury stood off to the side, a gun pointed at his head. He rubbed at his nose.

“Enough!” Raven roared. Yang and Weiss turned to her, the bandits lowered their weapons. “You,” she looked at Yang, “Get inside. We need to talk. Bring your friends too.”

Mercury walked back to the two girls. They embraced in a hug. “We going or…”

“Mercury?” Weiss demanded, “How—?”

“I’ll explain later.” He interrupted. “Shall we?”

The three teenagers walked into Raven’s hut.

* * *

_That was quite a story._

The three sat in front of Raven, tea in their hands. Mercury was the only one polite enough to drink it (Marcus made sure that he would be unsusceptible to poison when he was little. Mercury wasn’t worried if Raven poisoned it).

“That’s… quite a story.” Weiss managed to say.

“You don’t believe me.” Raven noted.

“I have to agree with Weiss. I don’t think that’s the truth.” Yang mentioned.

Mercury smirked. He already knew the basics of what Raven said. He was also happy that she didn’t mention silver eyed warriors. He didn’t want anymore questioning.

“Your silver eyed friend thinks it is,” Raven mentioned.

_Oum._

“I don’t have—” Mercury stopped himself. He suddenly remembered that Yang knows. He told her. He changed what he was going to say. “I never said I agreed with you.”

“Hmm.” Raven turned to Yang, “I’ll show you who the man Ozpin really is. And what he did to your uncle and me.”

With that, she stood up and left the three teenagers alone.

Weiss turned to Mercury, “What did she say about your eyes?”

“Nothing important,” he brushed her off and stood up. “Shall we?”

He led the two outside. Raven wasn’t there.

“Maybe she left?” Weiss suggested.

“No…” Mercury looked around. He heard the beat of a bird’s feather as saw a black object soar towards them. Just as it passed a tree, the bird transformed into Raven. “No. Way.”

“Yes way.” Raven looked up.

“He turned you into _birds?”_ Weiss demanded.

“Practically.” Raven shrugged.

Yang didn’t say anything.

“Yang…?” Mercury wondered, “You going to respond to your mother’s special ability?”

She opened her mouth, “Take me to Qrow.”

“Why would I do that?” Raven wondered.

“Dad told me about your semblance. About how you form bonds with people you care about. A bond with dad, me, and Qrow.”

Raven narrowed her eyes, “Or you can stay with me.”

“I need to find Ruby. She’s with Qrow.” Yang explained.

“She’s already a lost cause.”

“Hey!” Weiss snapped, “That’s my teammate you’re talking about!”

Raven looked at the three, “Fine. You want to go to Qrow…?” She took out her weapon and created a red portal behind her. “You can go. But the next time we meet, I won’t be so considerate.”

“You weren’t this time.” Yang grumbled.

She went and grabbed Bumblebee, riding it to the back.

When she arrived, she looked at Mercury, “What about your bike?”

“Oh,” he shrugged, “It’s not mine.”

“I knew it.” She turned to them, “Climb on.”

Weiss and Mercury climbed onto the bike. Yang then carefully drove it through the portal. Raven watched, disappointed, as they disappeared.

She then closed the portal.

* * *

The three exited the portal and landed on a balcony overlooking Mistrial. Qrow was leaning forward on the ledge. He turned and looked at the three people.

“Yang?” He asked as she took off her helmet.

“Mercury.” He grumbled when Mercury took off his own.

“Hey Qrow,” Mercury greeted, “Miss me?”

“I hope you realise that you’re in a lot of trouble.” Qrow mentioned, “You’re a wanted fugitive.”

Mercury shrugged, “Eh? What can you do?”

“Qrow,” Yang got off of Bumblebee, Mercury and Weiss followed suit. “Where’s Ruby?”

“Inside.” He gestured to the door with his head. “Good to see you, kid. We need the help.”

Yang gestured to the door with her arm, “Lead the way.”

* * *

While Teams RWY/JNR caught up on events, Mercury stayed back. He didn’t need to listen in on their conversations and become _attached_ to anyone. He had a mission.

They were only a bump in his mission.

He needed to get Qrow to _not_ find Spring.

But Mercury hadn’t _exactly_ figure out how he was going to do that…

He sat in one of the chairs in the living room. Thinking to himself. He noticed when a small farmhand awkwardly walked into the room. He had just come from the direction Qrow left a while ago. Qrow had tried to retire off to sleep or something. Mercury didn’t really care.

“Uh, hi.” The farmhand started. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Oscar.” He held out his hand, Mercury turned to him.

“Mercury.” He shook Oscar’s hand. “So, how’d you get roped up in this mess?”

Oscar opened his mouth but cut himself off and glanced at the floor. He then spoke up, “I, uh, I met a person who ended up messing with my life. It isn’t fun.”

“Huh.” Mercury nodded, “What’s your weapon?”

“Uh,” Oscar rubbed the back of his neck, “I have a cane…”

“Like old man Oz.” Mercury joked.

Oscar tensed up. Then he awkwardly laughed. “Yeah…”  he cleared his throat, “So, uh, I heard that you have silver eyes… Like a silver eyed warrior…?”

Mercury tensed this time. He turned and glared at Oscar, the younger flinching from his gaze. “Oh yeah? And who told you?”

“Your eyes,” Oscar explained, “Are silver.”

Mercury huffed and crossed his arms and legs, “I _seriously_ have to find out what is people’s obsessions with eye colours…”

“Well, silver eyed warriors were feared warriors.” Oscar mentioned, “Able to stop Grimm with one look. That kind of power is handy now. I guess that people just want to imagine it to be real.”

“And do you think it’s real?”

“Honestly,” Oscar sighed, “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

Mercury mused in agreement. “Smart answer.” He got up, “Is there anything we’re to do tonight, or can I go to sleep.”

“Not so fast,” Qrow appeared from the doorway, “You still have to answer my questions.”

Mercury sighed, “Like what?”

“Why did you take off your tracker?”

“If I kept it on I would have been killed.”

“Who wanted to kill you?”

“Salem.” Mercury lied. “She managed to locate my tracker. She was sending troops to my location. If I didn’t escape, I would have died.”

“Now, why would Salem want to kill _you?”_ Qrow wondered, “Thought you worked for her.”

“She doesn’t like it when her pawns get captured by the enemy.” Mercury explained. “Not that I blame her.”

“How come you didn’t contact me?”

Mercury rolled his eyes, “I’m not to go on scrolls, remember? Tai wasn’t willing to call you up for me.”

“He wasn’t?” Qrow raised an eyebrow, “How very un-Tai like that is.”

Mercury shrugged, “Don’t shoot the messenger. Anyway, I met up with Yang and we managed to catch a ride here from your sister. Weiss also tagged along.”

“And if I were to ask Yang and Weiss…?”

“They would say the same thing.”

Qrow nodded and pulled out his scroll. “Care to explain why Tai isn’t picking up?”

Mercury shook his head, “Nope. Don’t know.”

Qrow slid his scroll away. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell Ironwood about you?”

Mercury thought. “Because in order for everything to have happened, you would have had to fail your one job: watching over me. Everything happened because you ditched me. Sorry, but it’s the truth.”

Oscar sucked in a deep breath and gasped before straightening his posture and turning to Mercury. “Mr. Black, I would think that because of your line of work that everything happened.”

Mercury blinked. Oscar seemed… different.

“How do you know my last name?” Mercury demanded. It wasn’t good if a _farmland_ from _Mistrial_ knew he was Mercury Black, assassin-extraordinaire.

Qrow sighed and sat in one of the chairs.

Not-Oscar stayed standing, “Mr. Black, how much did Salem tell you?”

“About what?”

Qrow and Not-Oscar shared a look, “Look, kid.” Qrow started, “I don’t trust you. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if it was up to me—”

“And it isn’t?” Mercury guessed.

“Not exactly.” Qrow turned to Not-Oscar, “He seems to think that you’re trustworthy. Yang as well. So shut up and listen.”

“Qrow…” Not-Oscar chastised.

The taller man simply waved Not-Oscar off.

Qrow turned back to Mercury, “We know you know about the Four Maidens, you wouldn’t have gone against Fall if you didn’t. We want to know how _much_ you know about them.”

Mercury thought for moment.

_Time to lie._

“Well, I don’t know anything. I only knew that we were fighting someone powerful. I wasn’t told anything. I work under Cinder, didn’t exactly get a one-to-one meeting with Salem.

“Besides, now even Salem wants me dead. It would be wise to trust me.”

“Not after everything you pulled,” Qrow muttered. “So you know nothing of _anything?_ Anything at all? Anyone Salem wants dead?”

“The entire human population.” Mercury shrugged.

“Mr. Black,” Not-Oscar added before Qrow could do something regrettable, “Did you know that you were going to fight Fall?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, “That’s not much a secret.”

”What else do you know, regarding that story?” Not-Oscar wondered.

Mercury huffed, “The Four Maidens, yatta-yatta-ya. Salem wanted Ozpin dead, he’s dead. Fall now works for Salem. Stuff everyone knows.”

“Why did Salem want Ozpin dead?” Not-Oscar asked.

Mercury shrugged, “Beats me. Didn’t ask, didn’t care.”

“Finally, Mr. Black, what do you know about the Wizard who gave the Maidens their powers?”

He shrugged, “I dunno. Never cared. He’s an old man, gave them magic, then poof! went away.”

Qrow and Not-Oscar shared another look. “The Wizard from the story,” Qrow started, “Transfers his powers like the Maidens. Though, instead of just the magic, the memories transfer as well. Reincarnation.”

“The Ozpin you knew,” Not-Oscar started, “Was not the Wizard’s last form.”

“Let me guess,” Mercury raised a hand, “Oscar, here, is the new what? Wizard? Ozpin?” The two were silent. “It’s obvious. One minute you act like a shy kid, the next much, like how Ozpin acted. The stance, sentence structure, vocabulary. You practically wrote it across your face. Plus, why would a kid use a _cane_ as a weapon? Only old men, like Ozpin, would.”

“He’s more observant than we alleged,” Ozpin said to Qrow.

“No kidding.” Qrow grumbled.

“Hey, it’s what I do for a living.” Mercury shrugged, “In my line of work, you gotta be observant.”

“Very well, Mr. Black.” Ozpin said, “You guessed correctly. Now, I have a proposition to make.”

“I am not learning _anything_ about silver eyes.” Mercury immediately said.

“How did you know?”

“It would be the only thing you would ask!” Mercury explained. “I spent my whole life not doing anything with my eyes, and I shall continue doing nothing with them. Salem already wants me dead, I don’t want to go higher on her Kill List.”

“Mr. Black,” Ozpin tried. “It would incredibly useful—”

“Then go ask Ruby!” he mentioned, “She has silver eyes too.”

“Miss. Rose is—”

“Is what?” Mercury demanded, “Young, innocent, hasn’t killed people?”

Ozpin didn’t finish his sentence.

Mercury scoffed, “That’s what I thought.”

He stood up, “Go and explain this to Yang and Weiss, I’m heading to bed.”

He left the room and headed down the hallway. He paused. Mercury slapped his forehead once he realised that he didn’t know _where_ his room was. Or even if he had a room.

_Stupid. Letting your emotions control your thinking. Amateur mistake._

_Don’t let it happen again._

He accidentally bumped into Jaune while he was chastising himself.

“Woah,” Mercury said.

“Sorr—oh.” Jaune started.

“Oh?” Mercury asked. “Not happy to see me?”

“Not exactly.” Jaune admitted.

“Chill, I’m on your side.”

“Only because the other side wants you dead.”

“Heard that?”

“It’s not exactly hidden knowledge.”

Mercury shrugged, “Whatever. Take me or leave me, I don’t care. Hey, do you know where I would bunk?”

“No.”

With that, Jaune turned and walked down the hallway. Mercury stood in the centre.

“Welp, that went great.”

_To be fair, he’s right to be skeptical._

_Smart, Jaune, too cynical. That’ll be your downfall…_

* * *

In the next morning, Mercury had to go outside with everyone else to train.

By this time, everyone knew that Oscar was Ozpin and that Qrow was a bird.

He currently sat by the back of the house, Ren was meditating near him. Yang and Ruby were ‘sister-sparring’, which was normal sparring but with more comments than normal. Mercury didn’t care what Nora, Weiss, and Jaune were doing.

Mercury laid back, letting his legs rest. The none-stop moving was making his stumps ache.

“A soul’s nature is not defined by what the person does, but by what the person believes.” Ren spontaneously started.

Mercury turned to him and blinked, “What?”

“Mercury,” Ren kept his eyes close, “Did you believe in doing what you did?”

“That’s depends on what we are specifically talking about.”

“The fall of Beacon.” Ren clarified.

“Would it break your heart if I said ‘yes’?”

Ren opened his eyes, “No. Why did you help in the fall of Beacon?”

“Because it’s my job.”

“No,” Ren closed his eyes, “Because you chose to. Why?”

“I find great amusement in other’s suffering? What are you looking for?” Mercury wondered.

“Would you find amusement if you personally interacted with everyone affected by the fall of Beacon?” Ren wondered, “If you were in their position?”

Mercury thought, “If you’re trying to get me to ‘see clearly’, stop. It won’t work. I picked a path and I’m venturing along. Just because I’m working with you doesn’t mean I’m turning a new leaf. It’s too late to turn back.”

“It’s never too late to turn back.” Ren countered.

Mercury softly chuckled, “I think it is for me.”

“No.” Ren opened his eyes again, “If it was, you wouldn’t be working with us.”

Mercury didn’t have a response to that.

_Hah._

_Too bad I’m_ not _working with you, you bunch of foolable good-guys._

Ren closed his eyes again and the two sat in silence once again.

* * *

“Hey, Mercury?” Ruby wondered as the group headed back inside. He turned to her, “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

He blinked, “Sure.”

_That’s not smart._

_I could kill you while alone and frame it as a Grimm attack, or a bandit attack, or an assassin out to get me (my father was not very friendly to the other assassins) and Ruby got caught in the cross-fires._

Soon, they were the only ones outside.

“So… what do you want to talk about?” he wondered, slipping his hands into his pockets.

She turned to him. “Did you mean what you said about how you’re working with us, but you’re not going to change?”

“Why does it matter?” Mercury crossed his arms.

“Are you going to go back to being a criminal?”

Mercury furrowed his brow, “No. After this there is a high chance of me going to jail. I _did_ break the rules of my parole. You don’t have to worry about me running around the streets.”

She didn’t look impressed. “Mercury…”

“Ruby…” he mimicked, “Why did you want to talk?”

“I can’t decide what to think about you!” she admitted, “One minute you’re our friend, the next you’re aiding in the fall of Beacon, then you’re back to working with us! What is with you?”

Mercury sighed and brushed a hand through his hair, “Listen, Ruby. I’m not what you call loyal. I am not loyal to _anyone_ but myself. I switch sides because of the situations, I chose the side that will not kill me. I was your friend because it benefited me, then working with Cinder did, and now working with you guys are safer than working under Salem. Don’t take it personally, but I have a slight trust problem. As does everyone in my line of work. We’re not the good guys. We don’t stay to one side because it’s what’s _good,_ we join the side that won’t send us for dead.”

“So if working for Salem is more beneficial…?”

“Don’t worry,” Mercury stopped her, “Salem wants me dead. She won’t switch views on that. In her mind, if you’re a threat to her then you need to die. I’m apparently a threat, so are you.”

“Why? Why is she so _horrible?”_ Ruby wondered.

“That’s something no one knows.” He answered. “Not everything is black and white. Salem has her reasons for being bad as you have yours for being good.”

“I wish everything was easier to understand…”

He chuckled, _I hate this so much._ “So do I. But it’s not. So we have to buck up and focus on our plan.”

She nodded, “Yeah…”

He gestured to the house, “Shall we?”

She nodded.

The two turned and joined the others inside the building.

* * *

The doors to Haven opened and the group rushed inside. Standing on the inside balcony was Professor Leo Lionheart. He spotted Mercury in the group, and the assassin smirked at him. Lionheart cleared his throat and started to address the crowd.

Mercury quietly moved away from the group, towards the side. Yang and Weiss stood near the front, Ruby too. Nora and Ren behind them. Jaune and Oscar held back, both standing in the back. Oscar awkwardly grabbed his elbow as the adults chatted.

“Why did you bring your weapons?” Lionheart warily asked.

“What?” Qrow answered, “Leo, we’re Huntsmen.”

As the two conversed, Mercury noticed Yang looking over to the side. On the railing, a simple, black raven rested.

A raven much like…

“Mom?”

Qrow quickly shot at the raven. The raven flew behind Leo and transformed into Raven.

_Huh. Didn’t know that we were working with Raven…_

She surveyed the group before taking off her mask, eyes lingering on Mercury. The assassin simply smirked at her, much like with Lionheart.

“What are you doing here?” Qrow growled as Raven walked down the steps.

“I could ask you the same thing, little brother.” She mused. “You’ve been scheming.”

Qrow turned to Lionheart and demanded an explanation. Mercury only watched, amused, from the sidelines. Raven defended Leo.

“He did as anyone would do in his position,” she explained, “He saw the information in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice. It seems you all have too.”

Qrow stepped forward, “Do you have the Spring Maiden?”

“I do.”

“Then hand her over and let’s work together. We’ll beat Salem if we work together.”

Raven snapped, “All that time spying for Ozpin and you _still_ have no idea what you’re dealing with. Salem is unbeatable! There is _no_ beating Salem!”

_True._

Mercury smirked from the side.

“No,” Ruby spoke up, “You’re wrong. There are things that people would call impossible, and we have been able to do. And the reason we were able to do it was because we didn’t do it alone! We had people to teach us, people to help us, we had each other! Work with us, not against us! We’ll have a better chance if we try together.” She held out her hand to Raven, “Please.”

Raven looked at Ruby’s hand before ignoring it, “You sound _just_ like your mother.” She spat.

Raven grabbed her sword and cut a portal through the air. A fireball is shot at Ruby from it. Cinder, Emerald, and Vernal emerged through.

“Hello boys and girls.” Cinder chillingly greeted.

The portal closed behind them.

Mercury still smirked.

The door behind them opened, and Hazel slowly walked in. His footsteps thudding against the ground. Oscar recognised him and softly whispered to himself. Mercury raised an eyebrow, _so Oscar met Hazel before?_

Hazel slammed the door shut behind him.

He didn’t turn to them before speaking with his gruff voice. “The White Fang is prepping the destruction and securing the area. No one’s getting in, and no one’s getting out.”

“This was a trap.” Weiss realised.

Ren agreed. “Appears so.”

Qrow growled, “Raven, how long have you been with _them?”_

Cinder stepped forward, “Aww, don’t take it personally, little bird. Your sister was only recently added. Unlike the lion… entrance into the Vytal festival was quite good. Leonardo’s been working for Salem for a _very_ long time. Much like Mercury over there.”

Qrow turned to look at Mercury, who smirked even more.

_Time’s up._

“Mercury?” Yang wondered. “What does she mean?”

He stepped forward and walked towards Cinder, “Really, blondie. Did you _really_ think I was with you? Are you just naïve or just stupid?”

She lunged forward, Qrow stopped her. “You lied to us.”

“Duh,” Mercury rolled his eyes, “Why would I not?”

“Mercury had a special mission,” Cinder explained, “To relay information and to delay you from finding Spring. He did his job, well… _partly._ Not much information was sent.”

Mercury shrugged, “Didn’t have a scroll.”

Qrow glared at Mercury and Leo before speaking up. “It was you,” he growled at Lionheart. He accused Lionheart of giving Salem information about every Huntsmen and Huntresses in Mistrial. Lionheart let Salem kill all of the Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Cinder was quick to make Lionheart feel better by mentioning how Tyrian and Hazel would have found them all eventually.

Did it make Lionheart better? No.

Did it make Mercury grin? Yes.

“What is wrong with you?” Jaune demanded, having his head hanging low as to hide the tears staining his cheeks. “How can you be so broken inside? To kill so many people and then to come here and present it in our faces like it’s something to be proud of?”

Nora spoke warily, “Jaune…?”

He shot up his head and yelled at Cinder, “ALL WITH THAT DAMN SMILE ON YOUR FACE!”

Qrow tried to get everyone to stay calm as they brought out their weapons. It didn’t work.

Cinder smiled. Mercury smiled even more. Only Emerald didn’t smile. She seemed to be the only one out the three to feel any emotion akin to compassion.

Jaune continued to scream, “I’LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID!”

“Kid!” Qrow exclaimed, trying to get Jaune to calm down.

_Got your work cut out for you, Qrow._

Mercury watched the scene from the front.

Jaune continued to yell at Cinder. Her only response was:

“Who are you again?”

Jaune rushed at Cinder, his sword fully displayed. Cinder created her own fire sword and dueled against him. Ruby yelled his name and tried to help Jaune, but Emerald used her weapons and pulled Ruby to the ground.

“You’re not getting near her.”

Yang tried to rush off after Raven, and Mercury smiled.

_My turn._

He used his boots and launched him into the air, landing in front of Yang.

“Mercury, get out of the way.” She growled.

“No can do, blondie.” He smirked. “Don’t wanna upset the boss.”

“How could you betray us?” she demanded. “We trusted you!”

“That was your mistake, not mine.” He shrugged. “You shouldn’t have done anything to trust me. Look at your father, he tried to help me and he’s probably in the hospital.”

Her eyes flashed red, _“_ What did you do.”

“Dealt with an obstacle in my way.” He answered, “Besides, how could he think he would beat me? He’s trained to fight Grimm, I’m trained to fight people. Really, it wasn’t exactly _fair.”_

“ _What did you do?”_

Mercury smirked and readied himself into a fighting stance, “Why don’t you find out?”

She growled and shot Ember Celica behind her, propelling her forward.

* * *

Mid-way through the fight, Ruby screamed.

Mercury wasn’t able to see her eyes directly, but there was a white glowing light from. And unlike everyone else, he didn’t need to shield his eyes from the light. It didn’t impact him.

Quickly, Emerald knocked Ruby in the back of her head and knocked her out. The light faded, and everyone could see clearly again.

Emerald and Cinder each shot Mercury, the only other silver eyed person in the room, a quick look. Emerald’s was of ‘is that what you can do?’ and Cinder’s was of ‘don’t you dare do that here.’

Cinder then grabbed her arm and collapsed to her knees in pain.

Mercury turned back to look at Yang. She unfroze, and they continued fighting. Yang seemed even more desperate, probably because her sister was unconscious.

That didn’t matter to Mercury; the more desperate a fighter, the sloppier they were.

And he wasn’t desperate at all.

* * *

The battle froze once more as Mercury landed back onto the ground. He had just been avoiding one of Yang’s bullets.

He raised his arms up but slightly lowered them when he saw that Yang was turned away.

_Huh?_

That wasn’t like her. She’s too smart of a fighter to turn away from the enemy unless something terrible had happened to an ally, or she trusted that the enemy wouldn’t backstab her.

(And she was right about the second one. Mercury was _so_ ready for payback for his leg that he wanted to win by fighting, not by stabbing her in the back. He may be an assassin, but he’s an honourable one.)

He saw what she was looking at and widened his eyes in surprise.

Weiss had a fire spear through her side.

She sat, shocked, on her knees, arms frozen mid-abdomen.

They slowly lowered as the spear disintegrated into ashes.

She fell forward.

“WEISS!”

_…I did not plan for that to happen._

* * *

“Stop them!” Nora yelled to Yang, “We’ve got your team covered!”

Yang made a split-second decision and moved to run after Raven, Cinder, and Vernal who were going to head down to the vault.

_Rude._

Emerald pulled her to the ground by her weapon and joined Mercury in front of Yang.

“You wanna get to them, you have to go through us. All of us.”

Mercury crossed his arms as Emerald made copies of him that encircled Yang. Each Mercury smirked in a wave.

Yang got up and started to attack the Mercuries. Whenever she touched an illusion, it disappeared. Mercury, himself, watched with amusement as she fought with empty air.

She seemed to get angrier and angrier with every false hit.

Emerald then vanished the Mercuries, and Raven appeared.

Yang turned to her ‘mother’, and defused.

While she was busy, Mercury jumped at her and started to fight her. He kicked with his boots, bullets flying. She snapped out of the illusion and defended herself while Mercury advanced. He kicked her in the stomach, the leg, the face, and then roundhouse kicked her away. She ricocheted from the impact on the ground.

Ruby then used her scythe to fling herself across the hall. She stopped Emerald’s and Mercury’s advances, and the Mercuries faded back to one.

Yang stood up, “Thanks, sis.”

They chatted as if Mercury and Emerald were not there.

Mercury rolled his eyes as Ruby said, “I’m angry,” as if that made any difference to the scene.

_She’s just melodramatic._

She attacked them with her scythe, and Yang with her gauntlets. Mercury easily kicked Ruby’s scythe out of her hand.

“Oops,” he smirked, “My foot slipped.”

Ruby turned and lunged towards Mercury and he dodged her punches as she advanced. He reached out to punch her, but she ducked under and jumped up, hitting his nose.

He stepped back and clutched his nose.

_Ow._

“See you finally learnt some hand-to-hand.” he sniffled, “Too bad you didn’t know this back at the Vytal Festival. Hey, I didn’t know you could make quarters out of a Penny.”

She grabbed her scythe. Ruby growled, “Don’t mention her name. You don’t _get_ to mention her name. Any of their names.”

Mercury sucked in a breath, “A little touchy, I see. Well, that’s understandable. Though Nikos isn’t touchable anymore, is she.” He smirked, “Seeing as she’s dust in the wind.”

Unlike what he expected, Ruby didn’t react.

_Huh. She must be hiding her emotions._

_Smart._

_Never go into a battle while emotionally compromised._

* * *

Yang dashed passed the two and towards the elevator.

_Rude x2. Did your father never teach you manners?_

Mercury grabbed her prosthetic arm. He saw her eyes turn red before blinking away to violet.

_She controlled her semblance?_

_She never did that before._

Her arm detached, and he stumbled slightly before continuing to run. Emerald kept up.

 _So her_ _limb_ detaches _now???_

_They never before._

_At least,_ I _never saw them detach._

_Noted._

Mercury saw Yang jumped down into the elevator and would have followed if a wall of ice didn’t form. The two criminals turned and saw Weiss with her weapon high in the air.

_Great._

_Now we have to fight even more than needed._

He looked up and saw the lights from the law enforcement through the windows.

_The police are here._

_Shi—_

_Ironwood._

_I_ definitely _can_ not _get arrested again._

_There won’t be any outs for me this time._

_I’m screwed._

A giant shake erupted from underneath.

“Cinder?” Emerald wondered.

“Not likely…” Mercury muttered.

This shake was larger than anything Cinder alone could create.

“Spring?” he furrowed his brow.

_Why would they fight?_

* * *

Soon, Hazel joined up with Mercury and Emerald.

He managed to destroy the Queen Lancer Weiss conjured up. But Blake Belladonna, the missing member of Team RWBY, landed on his face and propelled off of it. She slid to a stop beside Ruby and Weiss. Hazel stood up and he, Mercury, and Emerald sauntered towards Team RWB.

Ruby shot Lionheart with her scythe-gun and Lionheart ran off.

Mercury sighed, “Really? The _professor_ of a _battle school_ is going to run of because he lost his aura. Pathetic.”

_That’s pathetic._

_Fighting without aura is uncomfortable, but doable. I know from experience._

Beside him, Hazel roared.

_Overdramatic much._

* * *

Eight people against three wasn’t a fair fight. The three people lost.

Mercury’s left prosthetic got shot and he collapsed to the floor. It was still functional, but the vibration from a bullet to the thigh brought him down.

“Damn it!” he growled.

“You shouldn’t have crossed us,” Ruby stated. “This is enough. Give it up. You lost.”

Mercury smirked, “I don’t give up that easily, Ruby.”

Qrow aimed Harbinger at him, “Don’t make me shoot you.”

Mercury glared at him.

Emerald spoke up, “It’s not over! We’re not done! Cinder will come with the relic! She’ll stop you all!” She spoke softly, “She won’t let us down.”

The sound of the elevator caught everyone’s attention. They all turned their heads and watched as Yang, not Cinder, came to the top. Relic in hand.

Emerald’s eyes widened. Tears pricked the corners. “No…” she softly whispered.

She dropped her weapons and fell to the ground, tears rushing.

Mercury slowly stood up and he and Hazel started to back away. “Emerald, get up. We need to go. Now.”

She didn’t move.

“Emerald!” Real emotional flowed through his voice. This was the first time is a long while.

Teams RWBY, JNR, Qrow and Oscar advanced. They kept on getting closer to Emerald, who hadn’t moved.

Mercury gulped. Something flowed through his body, closing his throat, and making his stomach flutter.

It was the feeling of nerves.

Mercury Black, assassin, was nervous.

He would have laughed if he wasn’t so nervous.

Emotion flooded his body, something he only felt while he was younger. He was worried for not just himself, but for Emerald.

_I, I care about Emerald._

_No._

_I can’t._

_I’m not allowed to care for anyone’s wellbeing but my own._

_I’m not allowed friends._

_Everyone is just a social cover._

_But…_

_Emerald…_

_She’s my friend._

He stepped forward to help her up. Something pricked at the back of his eyes, causing a huge pain in his forehead. His vision flared a soft white before he realised what was happening.

_Oh no._

“Oh no.” he softly uttered.

He used every ability he had to force his vision back. He lowered his head and tried to keep them from seeing his eyes flare white. He wasn’t able to tell if they saw or not.

_Keep the emotions down._

_Keep the emotions down._

_I don’t care._

_I don’t care._

_I DON’T CARE._

After a few seconds of forcing down his emotions, his vision cleared. The headache lingered, the noises were too loud, the lights too bright, and he eyes itched like someone sprinkled itching powder in them.

He ignored the itching, and the pain, and focused on Emerald.

He didn’t notice both Hazel and Oscar looking at him, one in concern and one in worry—not of the white flare, but of something else.

Emerald moved to look up at everyone advancing on her, she frantically looked around. She grabbed her head and screamed loudly.

Mercury didn’t know what the other’s saw, but he saw everyone turn pale and become scared at nothing.

Hazel grabbed Emerald and he and Mercury bolted from the school. Once they were out of the doors, Emerald fainted. Her illusion died.

They ran through the woods, hidden by the shadows of the trees in the dim moonlight.

* * *

_What was that?_

“That was Salem.” Ozpin explained. Everyone in the room turned to Ozpin, each with different emotions on their faces. Worry, fright, determination, pity… no two emotions were repeated.

Oscar went silent. It gave Ozpin a deafening peace.

“Salem?” Yang echoed.

Ozpin, still leaning on his cane, nodded. “It was as close to the real Salem as one could get; not being that tall, mind you. But yes, Miss. Xiao-Long, that was Salem.”

Slowly, but surely, everyone put their weapons away.

Majorly weakened, Ozpin reverted back to Oscar. Eyes flashing golden for a second before he collapsed to his knees. Qrow turned to him, concerned.

“I’m fine,” he managed.

That was a lie. And Qrow knew it was, but the older man stood up and walked over where the relic was.

 _Oscar,_ Ozpin managed, his voice quiet, _we need to take the relic to Atlas…_

Oscar nodded his head, then winced. He shouldn’t have done that, it hurt. He grabbed his side, it pained him from the excess exercise he was not used too. He fought more in that one day then in his entire life.

Oscar managed to speak, though it hurt to do so. “Mercury… his eyes…”

 _If I had any doubt,_ Ozpin started, _it is gone… Mr. Black_ does _have the skill of a silver eyed warrior. Oscar… I do not think anyone else noticed…_ he paused, regaining his breath (does Ozpin even breathe?????? Oscar didn’t know). _It would be wise if we kept this quiet. I do not think that Salem knows of his skill… or he wouldn’t be alive…_

“What…” Oscar panted, “Are you saying…?”

_I suggest that we keep Mr. Black’s secret… a secret… for his safety._

“You’re planning… something.”

_Trust me, Oscar… I know what I am doing…_

“Do you?”

 _Yes…_ Ozpin sighed, exhausted. _I have to rest… Don’t forget to tell Qrow…_

With that, the voice in Oscar’s head disappeared.

This time, it filled Oscar with deafening silence.

Qrow came over to him, thinking Ozpin was in charge. Oscar quickly corrected him. Oscar’s vision darkened, white spots danced in his eyes. He managed to tell Qrow where to take the relic before succumbing to unconsciousness.

He never managed to tell Qrow that Mercury activated his eyes.

* * *

The two ran through the forest, putting as much distance between them and Haven as they could. Hazel had Emerald strung over his shoulder, she was unconscious. Mercury ran by the taller man’s side, keeping a small distance between them.

As they ran, Mercury tried to block out the declining pain from his head. Luckily, he hadn’t fully activated his powers of else his head would be in an immense more pain. Mercury didn’t know what Hazel was thinking—or even if he noticed his eyes—and he didn’t want to know. It would be better if he didn’t ask about it and not risk the chance of Salem finding out about his silver eyes—or that he nearly activated them.

He also didn’t know where they were running too.

He looked up. All he saw was dark trees. There were no sounds beside from their footsteps and their harsh breathing.

After what seemed like eternity, Hazel stopped. Mercury followed suit, actually glad that he had prosthetics—his shins would have been killing him, as his thighs were. The taller man gently cleared away the sharp rocks from the ground and lowered Emerald there.

“You think they followed us?” Mercury wondered as Hazel used his jacket as Emerald’s pillow.

“No.” Was the gruff reply.

“Yeah, Em’s illusion would have thrown them off.” Mercury went and looked around the area. “This where we’re staying for the night?”

“Got anywhere better?” Hazel turned to him.

“Not complaining,” Mercury raised both hands, “Just asking a question.”

Mercury walked around the area, he scanned the distance. “Luckily Salem managed to get the Grimm to avoid us, huh?” he asked, “Or we’d be in a hell of a lot more trouble.”

He turned to look at Hazel, only for the man to grab his throat and pin him to a tree.

“What the!” Mercury demanded. His toes only managed to scrape the ground. “What are you doing?”

“What was that?” Hazel leaned close to Mercury’s face, looking him in the eyes.

“What was what?” Mercury struggled, “Put me down!”

Hazel didn’t listen. Mercury lifted his foot and fired straight into Hazel’s leg. The only thing the man did was drop him, Hazel’s semblance was activated. Mercury landed on his feet. With one hand he gripped his knees to keep from falling, with the other he gripped his neck, coughing.

 _This is_ not _helping my headache._

“Are you insane?” he demanded after his coughing fit. “You could have killed me.”

“Listen here,” Hazel said. Mercury looked up at him. “I didn’t trust you before, and I certainly don’t now. Not with that stunt you just pulled.”

“What stunt? Shooting you in the leg? In my defense, you were choking me.”

“No.” Hazel crossed his arms, “What happened back at Haven.”

“Betraying Qrow and Ozpin? What are you talking about!”

Hazel growled. “Your eyes.”

_Well, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—_

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mercury looked up at him.

“Yes, you do,” Hazel leaned down to look at him. “We both know that you almost activated your silver eyes.”

“Nah, I think you saw a trick of the light—or another one of Emerald’s hallucinations.” Mercury shrugged, “I’d go get my eyes tested if I were you.”

“My eyes are fine—yours are the trouble.”

“Nah. I’m fine. Welp, I’m off to sleep—mind taking the first watch?” Mercury asked before moving and lying down on a soft patch of dirt, “Wake me when it’s my turn! Thanks!” 

Mercury rolled onto his side, his back to Hazel. He closed his eyes and heard the taller man grumble before moving somewhere. He settled down after a moment.

_This is bad. This is bad._

_Hazel wasn’t supposed to know about my eyes._

_Only a few people I know, know about my eyes—and I can count them all on one hand!_

_Only Cinder really knows—Emerald hasn’t figured it out yet._

_Heck! I literally only activated it like ten minutes ago!_

_And now Hazel knows. He will tell Salem, and then it will all go down hill from there._

_This is bad._

_Like I stated before._

_Maybe I can play it off like an illusion or a trick of the light?_

_Who am I kidding? My eyes are obviously silver._

_I wonder how I managed to fool people._

_It’s because I’m a great actor._

_(And killed people who found out.)_

_That’s it! I’ll just kill Hazel!_

_No… he’s going to be difficult._

_I could fake my death?_

_…I’m not going to go that far._

Hazel’s voice cut through Mercury’s thoughts.

“You do know that we are going to talk about this in the morning, right?”

_Welp._

_I’ll just leave in the night._

* * *

Mercury didn’t leave in the night.

In fact, he didn’t get waken for his shift either.

When he _did_ wake up, dawn had just passed. His headache had dimmed to a small itching behind his eyes. He slightly groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked around the campsite, Emerald was still asleep—though she did look better than last night—and Hazel was sitting by the remains of the campfire he set up while the two slept.

“Why didn’t you wake me for my shift?” Mercury wondered, still rubbing his eyes.

“Because I knew that the moment I went to sleep, you would bolt.”

_I wouldn’t have!_

_…Yes, yes, I would’ve._

“Oh.”

Hazel turned to him, “We don’t have anything for breakfast, I hope you realise that.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mercury shrugged before rubbing his eyes, “I’ve had worse.”

Hazel raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t we talk about what happened at Haven?” he suggested.

“Why don’t we _not?”_

“You have silver eyes,” Hazel pointed out.

“So?”

“That’s dangerous.”

“So?”

“I should tell Salem about this.”

Mercury didn’t respond.

“Not so talkative now, are we?”

Mercury rubbed his eyes once more.

“Cut that out.”

“Can’t,” Mercury said, “They’re itchy.”

“Hmm.” Hazel mused, “I wonder _why.”_

“Why does it matter?” Mercury snapped. “Ever since _one_ person who knew anything about silver eyes found out, I’ve been bombarded with questions and treated like the enemy since! Why does anything have to change just because my eyes are a different shade than I said they were!”

Emerald stirred.

“I’d lower your voice if I were you,” Hazel said, “Do you want to wake her?”

“No.” Mercury calmed down. “I don’t see why Salem _needs_ to know about this. It’s not like I would actually use it.”

“Did you plan on using it in Haven?”

“I _didn’t_ use it in Haven.” Mercury countered.

“Because Emerald caused a distraction. You would have used them if she didn’t, am I wrong?”

Mercury remained silent.

“I should kill you,” Hazel mentioned, “Stop Ozpin from being able to hook his claws into you.” Mercury turned to him, apprehensive. “But I won’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Don’t get me wrong.” The man growled, “You show any signs of being nothing but loyal to Salem, and you’re dead. Just not now because I don’t believe in killing for no reason.”

“But you just gave a reason,” Mercury pointed out, “To stop Ozpin.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hazel gritted, “If you are loyal to Salem, then killing you will only help him by bringing down one opponent.”

“Still,” Mercury shrugged, “You never know what my agenda is.”

“Do you _want_ to die?”

“Nah, just messing with you.”

Hazel glared at him.

_This must be the most he’s ever spoken in a day!_

_Hah._

“As I was saying,” Hazel continued, “If I tell Salem, then she’ll keep you away from the fight—or kill you. That will also benefit Ozpin.”

“So…” Mercury checked, “You _won’t_ tell Salem?”

“Don’t know yet,” Hazel answered, “Haven’t decided.”

“Oh.”

“But if you keep up this nonsense, then I will.”

“Oh.”

The two sat in silence once more. Emerald’s soft snoring was the only thing to be heard. She formed a barricade between them, keeping either of them from lunging at each other. Mercury managed to stay silent.

_Welp._

_This plan went well._

_Can’t wait to see what mishaps will happen next! Not._

_Now, all I have to do is wait for Emerald to wake up and hope that Hazel doesn’t rat me out to Salem._

_Fun._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for sticking through till the end!  
> Until I got any ideas from Vol. 6, the series will be finished. If I get an idea, it will reopen. Okay?  
> Sorry about the Penny and Pyrrha jokes...  
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
